Friday 28th December 2007

Over at the “Post of the Week” website, voting has opened on a shortlist drawn from the winners of each week during the year. The eight nominated posts are a snapshot of some of the best writing on blogs in the English-speaking world, but it’s a completely different world to our cosy aggregator based world of [...]

Yesterday I went to the Angel in Islington to buy a book. On the way there I noticed buses were being diverted from Upper Street to Liverpool Road, and thinking there must have been an accident or road closures, thought nothing more about it. Later watching the news on the shocking assassination of Benazir Bhutto on News 24, I learnt that yet another teenager had been stabbed to death, this time at the Angel in Islington- hence the diverted buses. This was in broad daylight at a busy bus stop in a busy shopping centre. Witnesses say that the fight ...

I missed this piece of evidence showing that the Labour government spends more money in Labour areas than they do in areas with councils and MP's of other parties. Well done to Lib Dem MP David Laws for finding this out.

I’ve just read an interesting article from the Journal of Liberal History about Arthur Seldon, a founding member of the IEA and at the time Liberal activist. In those days, the IEA was seen as a Liberal Party front by some sectors, the Liberals embracing economic liberalism which was at the party’s core from the [...]

Ok Norfolk Blogger is telling us that the cause of death of Benazir Bhutto may be a strange one. However, he is quoting Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema the Interior Minister, a close assosiate of President Pervez Musharraf, Ms Bhutto's opponent, who says she died from a a fractured skull as the result of banging her head on the lever for the sun roof. Now I'm not sure what speed the car was going at

A new initiative by the Conservatives is reported here. The plan is to jail relatives of non-EU foreigners who do not ensure that their visitors return home. The idea is that a named sponsor would take responsibility. Chris Huhne pointed out the problems with the initiative, calling it, 'a proposal too far' and pointing out the 'ethical and practical difficulties'. I completely agree. Jailing someone for the actions of another seems to me entirely unreasonable and unfair. And I believe it could lead to awful situations in which someone is jailed and then their relative is allowed to stay for ...

After all the misinformation about Benazir hutto's death, the real cause of death has finally been announced. The initial claim that she had been shot twice was wrong, as was the subsequent claim that she was struck by shrapnel from the bomb. Instead, it turns out that the shockwave from the bomb rocked her bomb proof car, but as she had been waving to the crowd through her sunroof, she was not strapped in to the car seats meaning she hit her head on the plastic handle of the sunroof, causing her to have a fractured skull. One commentator on ...

This is a test of whether or not my cynicism about this government is justified. With Al Qaeda being fingered for the assassination of Bhutto, Brown wastes no time in announcing that he intends to step up the fight against terrorism. The cynical part of me, the part of me that’s had it up to the neck with Labour, says that Brown will be a happier man today than he’s been for the last few weeks. As far as he’s concerned the media agenda’s moved onto a subject that he will feel is a ’strong’ area for him. But the ...

The Guardian reports that police investigating possible criminal charges arising from Labour's "donorgate" controversy risk another failed prosecution attempt because of the uncertain state of the law. They say that following the Crown Prosecution Service's refusal to sanction a prosecution over the higher-profile loans for peerages accusations, the uncertainty may again mean no action is taken when the Metropolitan police file is given to the CPS, probably next month. Apparently the problem is one of establishing a public interest justification for a prosecution where those involved have all admitted error. The Electoral Commission clearly believe that the law is an ...

Christmas is often a time for reminiscing and this Christmas was no different in my family. My children were reminiscing about the bedtime stories I used to tell them. Favourites included the Farty Dinosaur. So, being as it is still the pantomime season and I am still procrastinating about doing my paperwork, here is a little tale in honour of Laurence Boyce who I know loves fairytales! Lindarella There was once a little girl who lived in a tiny little house at the edge of a forest. She shared her house with her mother, her three sisters and two brothers. ...

...so hopefully none of the following people will mind me blogging on their political affiliations on facebook... From the 'Political Compass' application I recently added to my profile I can see that Linda Jack is the most left-wing of my blogging friends who have taken the test. Peter Dunphy is the most right-wing. Charlotte Gore is the second most right-wing of my friends. Alix Mortimer is the second most left-wing. Not surprisingly, I'm closest to Will Howells. This has been one of the most interesting applications that I have added to facebook. But what have I learnt really? That I ...

Yep we survived another Christmas! Though it wasn't as easy as others. First I have been ill over Christmas with a stomach bug and a bad cold - topped together made for a downer on the Christmas festivities! Least I was up and about on the big day unlike on Christmas Eve which I spent in bed. Second the bolier packed up sometime on Christmas Eve - so we have been with heating and hot water since then! Thank god for electricity to heat up water and keep us a little bit warmer! Hopefully that is being sorted as I ...

I voted for Nick Clegg in December, the first time I have ever backed a winner. I must confess to not following the campaign very closely as (i) it was rather lacklustre (ii) I had made my mind up before it began. Now since he’s been elected, the sense of expectation among what might perjoratively be called the ‘Westminster elite’ is almost palpable. Nick has been presented as a new, young face for our party extremely well and he has made the predictable bland speeches typical to any new party leader these days promising change. Unfortunately for me, and possibly ...

As is the Islamic custom Benazir Bhutto has been buried before nightfall. With her death being so late that meant today. The Bhutto family are as much martyrs for their country as the Neru/Ghandi family across the border in India. But what next for Pakistan? At the moment there are three days of national mourning for the ex-Prime Minster the first female to hold such a position in a Muslim

Switched to a relaxing Christmas cheer and prospects of a new read, last night – news of the shocking assassination of Benazir Bhutto brought me back to the reality of politics and violence in other countries, especially the dangers to women politicians when they put themselves forward to challenge the status quo. BBC 4’s Women’s Hour focused on this, this morning, beginning with the

I notice that, as Sterling hits a new low against the Euro, that Ambrose Evans Pritchard is now predicting 1929 is the benchmark to measure the likely fallout of the credit crunch. Now, I am starting to think that Ambrose is beginning to sound like the boy who cried wolf a bit. I do not underestimate the scale of the emerging problems- as I have said before, the scale is truly enormous. However Evans Pritchard continues to add in his view that the Euro will collapse and much of the European Union with it. In fact, I think that the ...

This is manna from heaven for headline writers everywhere. The Telegraph goes with "Houston we have a problem": Margaret Thatcher may have been not for turning, but the handle on a lavatory door that she encountered in America proved equally stubborn. A hitherto private account of the Iron Lady’s visit to the US in 1977, written by an official at the British consulate-general in Texas, records

We tend not to be too poll-obsessed here at LDV - of course we look at them, as do all other politico-geeks, but viewed in isolation no one poll will tell you very much beyond what you want to read into it. Looked at over a reasonable time-span and, if there are enough polls, you [...]

I was away for the day yesterday and only heard the news of Benazir Bhutto's death as we drove home. I was saddened and disappointed but it wasn't really a surprise (which made it even sadder). It's very hard for us here in cosy Eaglescliffe to understand or appreciate the passion which politics can arouse in people elsewhere. Pakistan is a country which was born from a struggle, had further

I remember back when Musharraf came to power and kicked all the politicians out of Pakistan that many greeted this with what at best could be described as ambivalence. A number of people, including prominent Lib Dems, were of the opinion that while military coups are, of course, a Bad Thing, the self-serving corrupt political class in Pakistan had had its day, failed and that Musharraf might be able to bring a period of stability out of which genuine politics could hold sway. Eight years on and I’m not convinced that Musharraf has any firmer grip on the country than ...

No, I didn't eat too much. I did hear while driving back from Norfolk of the murder of Benazir Bhutto. I could have sworn I heard George Bush and Gordon Brown condemn the murder. How much western money has gone into propping up Musharraf?

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